


red foam

by Copperfur



Category: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: A child Master, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, No Ryūnosuke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2018-12-10 13:47:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11692932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Copperfur/pseuds/Copperfur
Summary: (Fate/Zero AT) Ryūnosuke somehow gets a hold of Matou Sakura to sacrifice. The result? Simply put, it's not pretty.





	1. Sakura's Servant

****Somewhere in Fuyuki, night-time** **

Somewhere in a house in Fuyuki, was a young man with red hair and yellow eyes, who wore a purple coat with a white shirt underneath and dark blue pants. This man, known as Ryūnosuke Uryū, was a murderer: a hired one to be exact. He was a Freeter: someone who works for a small pay, but has a greater amount of free time, unlike a simple salaryman. While he may be a murderer, he does have a normal life, but committing murder for money would raise many questions.

"And that wraps up another good murder." Ryūnosuke smiled as he stabbed his knife into the dead man's back. He slowly got up from his crouching position beside the dead man and dragged the man's body outside somewhere to be disposed of. He then walked towards a nearby drawer and opened it, taking out a small red book from within the drawer.

This red book was a very detailed book about magic, how to use it, manipulate it, summoning and vice versa. The man who he killed was an experienced magus, who wrote the book and would have published it if not for the man who murdered him with a knife. The book also detailed other information such as the Holy Grail War, its purpose and other things related to it like Servants, Command Seals and what not, and the part on command seals was what he was reading on right now.

"So that what this symbol on my arm is." He muttered, looking at the symbol on his right hand, which appeared on his hand a week ago. It just randomly appeared while he was enjoying his last kill. Ever since then he had been figuring out what this symbol was and now he had found its purpose.

They were the three claims of absolute obedience, the crystallization of a great magic, that a Master has over a Servant in the Holy Grail War system. Unable to normally be controlled by humans, they were burdened by the "absolute condition for materialization", the authority of the Command Spell carved into them at the moment of summoning.

He was chosen by the Grail for this war. There was no way he would be stepping out of this one. He had gone on to the part about the Holy Grail and its significance, which got him all excited.

Now all he needed was to summon his Servant, but he had no catalyst to summon it. He had drawn the summoning circle earlier; all that he needed was something to use, according to the book. He got up from the couch that he was sitting on and headed out of the house, looking for something to use. As he left the house, the sky began to pour heavily, forcing him to take an umbrella from the dead occupant's coat rack.

* * *

** **Elsewhere, 8 minutes later** **

Sakura panted as she kept on running. The young girl had lost time of how long she had been running. Ever since she had escaped Zōken, she had been running non stop away from that man. Only one thing was in her little mind right now. That was to get away from him, as far away from him as possible. Although her uncle would not be happy, and would be worried for her, he would understand. He would leave to find her and bring her to a new place to call home soon enough, far away from this hellhole. Right now that didn't matter. What mattered right now was getting as far away as possible.

The sky vomited shower after shower of rain. Even as she ran, she didn't care if she was going to be soaking wet after this. She turned left, ran down a street and turned right and ran down another street before she reached a small bridge. She scaled over the wall and went down to the underside of the bridge, where she would hide until she think that no one was following her. She panted as she tried to catch her breath from the marathon that she undertook. Zōken would never find her now. At least, that was what she hoped.

Unknown to her, she had been followed by a certain murderer, who came across her while she was running. Something told him to follow the girl and he ended up following her all the way under the bridge. She would do for a catalyst, because he was desperate, after all. Before Sakura could realize that she wasn't alone down here, Ryūnosuke forcefully clamped a cloth over her mouth. Sakura struggled against the stranger behind her, but the effects of the ether instantly kicked in, and she fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

** **30 mins later…** **

When Sakura came to from being unconscious, the first thing that she found was that her hands were tied to a table leg. The second was that she was in an unknown house. And finally, there was a red-haired man, standing next to a dried up patch of blood, which Ryūnosuke had failed to clean up earlier. She was in a murderer's house, she theorized.

The red-haired man hummed a tune as he took the syringe that he used on the little girl, in which contained some of her blood, and scattered it all over the magic circle. Once this was accomplished, he began chanting the words of the incantation, which was written separately from the book on a piece of paper found in the dead man's bedroom.

** **Heed my words, My will creates your body,** **

** **And your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call,** **

** **And obey my will and reason, Then answer my summoning!** **

** **I hereby swear, That I shall be all the good in the world,** **

** **That I shall defeat . . . all evil in the world!** **

** **Then let thine eyes be clouded, With the fog of turmoil and chaos,** **

** **Thou, who art trapped in a cage of madness, And I, the summoner, who holds thy chains!** **

** **Seventh heaven clad, And the great words of power,** **

** **Come forth from the circle of bindings, Guardian of Scales!** **

And the barely lit room was filled with a bright light, forcing Sakura and Ryūnosuke to shield their eyes; in Sakura's case, she was forced to shut her eyes. When the light died down, Ryūnosuke lowered his arm and he found himself staring at the new figure that stood in the room.

Said figure was a young child with blood red eyes and golden hair. He wore a white shirt that revealed his chest which had red markings on it and green camouflage shorts. There was a golden necklace around his neck. The child looked around before his eyes landed on the man in front of him.

"I am Gilgamesh, of the Archer class." The child introduced himself, bowing in front of him. "Are you my Master, sir?"

Ryūnosuke smiled as he nodded. "Yes, I Ryūnosuke Uryū, am your Master."

"Hai, this place looks dark." Ko-Gil stated, looking around. "Mind if I get the lights?"

Ryūnosuke nodded as he went to a nearby light switch and flipped it on, allowing light to be let into the room. Ko-Gil looked around the room and his eyes landed on the young girl in front of him.

"Hi, I'm Gilgamesh. Ko-Gil to be exact." Child-Gil smiled as he greeted the little girl, who backed away a little. "Are you okay?"

Sakura said nothing, as she averted eye contact with the little King of Uruk, who pouted at the young girl's action.

"Awh, come on! Don't be like that." Ko-Gil tried to cheer her up. "You won't be able to make friends if you do something like that."

"Archer," Ryūnosuke called. "Watch her, I'm gonna go and get something." With that, Ryūnosuke left the room, leaving his Servant and Sakura alone together. Sakura took a glance at Ko-Gil, who took a nearby chair and sat in front of Sakura.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked her with a worried look. "Are you afraid of something?"

Sakura shook her head, still not wanting to talk to him.

"Hey, you can tell me." Ko-Gil told her with a reassuring smile. "If you have a problem, I can help you anyway I can."

And yet something was telling her that she could trust the little child in front of her.

"W-why do you want to help?" Sakura asked the archer.

"Because something is making you sad, isn't it?" Ko-Gil answered her. "Which is why I want to help you with anything that's making you sad! You can tell me what's wrong."

Sakura, despite only meeting this person for only a few minutes began to tell him of her story; of how she escaped Zōken, of what kind of a man he was and what he had planned to do to her. She continued telling him until she ran out of things to say to the child king of Uruk, who narrowed his blood red eyes dangerously.

"So this Zōken is a child abuser, and my master is a murderer huh?" Ko-Gil sighed, pinching his forehead. A master like that, he wouldn't be able to get along with. Besides, he also never liked such people.

_ _Mongrels, the lot of them_ _ .

"Y-yes," Sakura nodded, tears falling down her cheeks. "And ever since then, I wanted to get as far away as possible from here and that man." Sakura, for possibly the first time in her life, cried. Sakura was pulled into a tight embrace by Ko-Gil, who comforted her to the best of his ability.

"Shhh, it's okay now, you're away from him. You should be happy that he's no longer here." Ko-Gil tried to comfort her. They stayed like this for awhile, until they had to break the hug.

"Hey, umm, Sakura..." Ko-Gil began. "If you want, how about you be my Master instead?"

"Huh?"

"Well you know, be my master for this Holy Grail War. We can win the Grail together! I'll kill the both of these mongrels who had dared to hurt you and with the Grail, we can achieve your dream together."

Sakura looked up to the Servant and, for the first time in her life, she had hope.

"Can you help me achieve my dream, Ko-Gil?"

"First of all, it's Gilgamesh. I never liked that nickname anyway. And the second, yes we can. Although I need to kill Ryūnosuke first and then I can form a contract with you, though we're gonna need the command seals that he has. Without them, you won't be counted as a participant, chosen by the Grail."

Sakura nodded in understanding. Gilgamesh smiled as he freed her from her bindings.

"But until then, let's be friends!" He held out a hand to her. "Shall we?"

Sakura nodded as she gave Gilgamesh her hand and he helped her up.

Ryūnosuke came back a moment later and the power failed at the same time. Even though there was little light in the room, Ryūnosuke still saw that his Servant's attitude had changed, as Gilgamesh was now standing protectively in front of the girl.

"What are you doing, Archer?" The serial killer asked, wanting to know why the Servant had freed his hostage.

The child king of Uruk shook his head. "Nothing," he lied.

A golden portal materialized behind Ryūnosuke. A familiar red spear shot out from it and drove itself into the man's heart.


	2. Chapter 2

A cursed wound bubbled into being on Ryūnosuke’s back, rapidly spreading to the front of his chest. He choked in surprise from the force of the strike and collapsed in a heap when Lancer withdrew his spear. The Hound of Ireland knew it wouldn’t take long for the curse to kill his victim.

 

Cú Chulainn glanced over at the girl and smiled, letting her know he was an ally. Sakura tensed, unsure of whether she could really trust this Servant. Her fears were set to rest when Gilgamesh stepped forward.

 

“You have my gratitude, Lancer. He was a bad person.” Turning to Sakura, he added: “We must hurry and make a pact.”

 

Lancer guarded the house, while Sakura and Gilgamesh became Master and Servant. Once the pact was complete, the young Archer advised remaining in the house for the night. They would prepare for the War in the morning.

 

“I apologize for not arriving sooner. My Master told me not to interfere unless things were dire.” Lancer defended his reason for not helping until he believed the situation was escalating again.

 

Ko-Gil accepted his explanation. “You’re forgiven. Who is your Master?”

 

“This girl’s father-” Lancer began.

 

Sakura cheered at this, prompting Lancer to grin. He was amused by her ability to remain positive, despite being magically stripped of being a Tohsaka. Cú Chulainn believed Sakura would go far in life, once the Matou head had been dealt with.

 

Gilgamesh didn’t take long to put two and two together. “She has an older sister and the father could only train one of them.” It was more of a statement than a question, but Lancer nodded anyway.

 

“The Matou head isn’t good for her.” The young Archer continued, wanting to explain everything while he had the chance. “The uncle can help, however.”

* * *

 

One Kiritsugu Emiya had been frustrated over the relic that had been given to him by Jubstacheit before he and Irisveil had flown to Fuyuki. The key phrase was “had been”. Kiritsugu was no longer feeling foiled by the simple silver cup, as he stood in the workshop of the Japanese mansion they had acquired for the duration of their stay here.

 

With the silver cup, he intended to summon one of the greatest Saber class Servants post-King Arthur - Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus herself.

 

With that said, he anticipated that this Grail War would be very close statistically. All of the information he had on the registered participants of the War was growing day by day, as newly selected Masters summoned their Servants.

 

He had been surprised that Archer’s Master had a quick turnabout and was now a young girl. Kiritsugu surmized that another Servant had killed the one known as Ryūnosuke Uryū, since he knew young Gilgamesh didn’t have enough strength in his limited Gate of Babylon to be able to do that swiftly enough.

 

If this Sakura Matou survived long enough, he would readily adopt her and claim her as his. What about her father, though?

 

Kiritsugu supposed the elder Tohsaka didn’t matter. Not when he recalled the information on the man who interested him more than anyone else in this war.

 

Kirei Kotomine.

 

How he could live like that was beyond him. He held no passion for life, he seemed dead. Kiritsugu Emiya wanted to know as much about Kirei as possible. What kind of person was the younger Kotomine?

 

For now, he would have to come up with a new idea on how to deal with him.

 

His mind made up, Kiritsugu rose from the seat he had been sitting on and placed the silver cup in the middle of the summoning circle. It was time to summon his Servant, he decided. “We’d better get started then...”

 

Raising the hand that held his Command Seals, he began speaking the spell that would summon a Servant.

* * *

 

 _At the same time, three other individuals summoned forth their Servants, though the summoning chant for Berserker was different and couldn’t be counted among the usual spells_ _._ _The Rider_ _._ _The Caster_ _._ _The Berserker…_

 

 _"_ __Ye first, O silver, O iron. O stone of the foundation, O Archduke of the Contract_ _ _._

 

 __Hear me, in the name of our great teacher, the Archmagus Schweinorg. Let the descending winds be as a wall. Let the gates in all directions be shut, rising above the crown, and let the threeforked roads to the Kingdom revolve_ _ _._

 

 __Shut_ _ _._ __Shut_ _ _._ __Shut_ _ _._ __Shut_ _ _._ __Shut_ _ _._

 

__Five perfections for each repetition. And now, let the filled sigils be annihilated in my stead!_ _

 

 __Set_ _ _._

 

 __Let thy body rest under my dominion, let my fate rest in thy blade. If thou submitteth to the call of the Holy Grail, and if thou wilt obey this mind, this reason, then thou shalt respond. I make my oath here. I am that person who will become the virtue of all Heaven. I am that person who is covered with the evil of all Hades. Thou seven heavens, clad in a trinity of words, come past thy restraining rings, and be thou the hands that protect the balance-!_ _ _"_

* * *

 

 _“_ Am I your Servant, Praetor?” Nero asked, emerging as the smoke dissipated from the workshop summoning. She wore a beautiful red and white dress and had what most would call an angelic face. “Am I, Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, worthy of being your Servant?”

 

Silently, Kiritsugu watched until his Servant had finished speaking. At the moment, he wasn’t sure what to think of the Saber class’ inverted demands a Servant normally made of their Master. He would keep an eye on her, knowing of how she died and it was perhaps this that led to her current insecurities. Kiritsugu wasn’t entirely sure, but she was here now.

 

The magus killer deigned to answer her. “You are my Servant. I’m your Master, Kiritsugu Emiya.”

 

And with those words, he felt the pact between them complete itself. Even over the thaumaturgy that already ran through his body, he felt a stronger type, realizing it was their magical bond.

 

“What do you want me to do, Master?” Nero asked Kiritsugu what his plans were.

 

For a former Emperor, Kiritsugu thought she was naive, but she may yet change his mind on that. “You will wait for my orders,” he responded.

 

The Grail War hadn’t even begun, yet she yearned for battle already? He thought she had been a generous ruler, from what he had read about her. Was that to be proven wrong as well? Kiritsugu didn’t know if he could handle any more fabrications regarding his Servant.

 

“Yes, Master.” Her compliance sounded meek. That was her mother’s fault.

 

Kiritsugu turned and started walking away. “It’s late. Assume spirit form and guard the mansion while Irisveil and I sleep.”

 

“I will do so, Master.” Nero stayed for a moment longer, observing her Master’s retreating form, before dissipating into particles to protect the residence where her Master lived for now.

* * *

 

Coughing madly, Waver Velvet scrambled backwards as his summoning circle exploded in a blast of smoke and light. A few months previous, after being humiliated by one Professor Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald for an essay he had written, he had managed to miraculously steal the package that was being delivered to his former professor from France. Whilst doing his research, Waver learned that the perfectly fossilized eye that was in the package, was actually a relic, that was used in order to summon a heroic spirit, in something called the 'Holy Grail War'. Naturally, Waver decided to regain his stature as a magus, by taking part in the war himself.

 

He had arrived in Japan a few weeks ago with his relic and had procured a home for himself, by hypnotising a rather nice older couple Glen and Martha Mackenzie, into believing he was their grandson. He still felt a little guilty about that, but he had reasoned that it was better than using what little money he had to live in a hotel room for who knew how long. Hey, he had thought, at least his hypnotised hosts were much more kind and caring than any employee of a hotel.

 

Through months of constant effort, he had finally made it to the day when he called his Servant.

 

He was starting to regret it, though, as he finally had a chance to look up at the new arrival.

 

The Servant didn’t greet him immediately, but Waver felt her killing intent from where she stood. She had long, beautiful locks of purple hair and there was a visor covering her eyes. Her weapons were already in her hands, ready to be used.

 

“I ask of you, are you my Master?” The Servant finally addressed him, her voice a hiss.

 

Waver gulped, still sweating from the killing intent. “I-I am. I’m Waver Velvet. You are?”

 

“You summoned me in the Rider class,” came the icy reply.

 

Waver paused, taking in Rider’s attributes again, specifically the visor. _Oh crap…_ He realized who his Servant was now and guessed why she was so hostile towards him. _I summoned Medusa…_

 

He knew from his childhood the legend of Medusa the Gorgon; she had been the protector of her older sisters. But her own power and drinking the blood from her petrified victims corrupted her and she became more beast than the goddess she had originally been.

 

She was eventually slain by Perseus, who’d had access to multiple Noble Phantasms in his mission from the gods to stop her. It had been tricky at one point, but he emerged victorious.

 

Waver was grateful for one major difference between them. This Medusa’s hair wasn’t snake-based.

 

“I-I hope we can work together during the Holy Grail War,” Waver stammered, still intimidated by his Servant.

 

Medusa stared at him, her visored gaze seeming to be analytical. “I have no time for weak Masters. Weakness will get you killed.” Here, she paused, appearing to register that something was wrong with her body. “… I can not return to spirit form. Did anything go wrong during the summoning?”

 

She was admitting her own weakness after just lecturing her Master about it; Rider was ashamed she had spoken so quickly. But Waver was right: they did need to work together.

 

“I used chicken blood instead of my own.” The teen mumbled, knowing he should have used his own. He figured something awry would happen during the summoning because of it, but he hadn’t expected Rider to not be able to return to spirit form. Waver prostrated himself before Medusa. “I’m very sorry.”

 

Behind the visor, Rider rolled her eyes, but placed a hand on her Master’s shoulder. “It’s fine. It just means I’ll require mana in exchange for being like this. Mana exchanges usually mean intimate moments, but you knew that, didn’t you?”

 

Waver gulped and nodded. He definitely knew.

 

Then, he realized something. He couldn’t go back to the Mackenzie’s with Rider as she was. So Waver decided to stay here for the night. Luckily, he had brought a sleeping bag with him. He set it up, aware that Medusa was watching him.

 

“You do not have a home?” She asked him, her head tilted to one side. Rider knew, from the information the Grail had given her upon materialization, that most Masters had a home where they lived. When she saw Waver set up a sleeping bag, she wondered if he had no home to go to. But…

 

Waver’s head jerked in denial. “I do… It’s just better for now if we stay here.” At her continued confused expression, he elaborated. “The people I’m staying with don’t know about this world, magic and Servants. When I do go back, I’ll let you into my room.”

 

“As you wish.” Medusa agreed.

 

When Waver got into the sleeping bag and closed his eyes, Rider figured it was time to watch the perimeter of the “base” her Master had made. She walked over to the nearest tree and lay her back against it, eyes and senses alert for any threats that might come.


	3. Chapter 3

In a basement of a large mansion, somewhere in Fuyuki, was a well-dressed man clad in a white long sleeve shirt with a crimson tuxedo over it that had black buttons, as well as a blue ribbon. He wore crimson pants and brown shoes. He had elegant black hair and a short black beard, as well as having blue eyes.

 

Tokiomi Tohsaka stared down at the magical writing board that was currently writing down information on a piece of paper. After a few minutes, the pen stopped writing, allowing him to remove the paper from it. As he read the information written on the paper, the sound of footsteps could be heard from behind him as another person entered the basement. Said person was a man by the name of Kirei Kotomine, who was in his  mid-20’s. He had short hair and blank brown eyes and he wore a lower class priest uniform.

 

“You know, I see that device outdated to this very day.” The man told Tokiomi, walking beside a table. Tokiomi ignored his student’s complaint about his use of outdated devices as he finished reading his report.

 

“I have a report from the Clock Tower.” Tokiomi told him. “It appears Lord El-Melloi has acquired another relic; apparently, his participation is certain now.”

 

“It troubles me that two spaces are unaccounted for.” Kirei answered. With these two unknowns, they didn’t know whether or not that they had an advantage or not. Besides, it could be anyone.

 

“The Grail will choose its participants soon enough.” Tokiomi assured him. “Regardless of skill, once we have a firm grasp on our opponents, we can determine whether or not they are weak or strong. There’s no need to worry about them for now. More importantly, Kirei... No one saw you enter the mansion?”

 

“Hai, no one did.” Kirei answered him. “However, if they did, I would have taken care of them.”

 

Tokiomi nodded as he continued reading the report sent to him by one of his spies. His calm demeanour shifted to a worried expression as he continued reading the report. “This is troubling.”

 

Kirei raised an eyebrow at this. “How so?”

 

“I was gathering information on the Einzbern Master. Nine years ago, a family famous for their pride in pure blood welcomed a mage in from outside the family out of the blue. The Einzbern family specializes in alchemy, making them unfit for battle, which is why they kept losing in the other grail wars. They must have run out of patience. The mage chosen is perfect for this role.”

 

Kirei, hearing this, narrowed his eyes in concern, not liking this one bit. Whoever the Einzberns had chosen, it sounded like he was a threat. A big one, at least.

 

“Emiya Kiritsugu.” Tokiomi continued. “The man known as the Magus Killer.”

 

“Emiya Kiritsugu? I know that name.” Kirei responded, eyes narrowing as he recognized the name.

“So even the church have heard of him?” Tokiomi raised an eyebrow, handing his student the paper. “Emiya, the Magus killer has quite a reputation. On the surface, he’s a heretic who doesn’t belong to the Association; however, the higher ups find him quite useful for their own purposes.”

 

“Similar to us Executors of the Church?” Kirei questioned.

 

“Worse. He’s essentially a freelance assassin, who specializes in killing Magi with unorthodox techniques. Read the third paragraph.”

 

Kirei looked at the third paragraph and was in disbelief at what he read.

 

“Poisoning, bombing of public places, sniping... he even brought down an airliner cause his target was on it?”

 

“He is a man who will use underhanded tactics without thinking twice. The world’s laws do not apply to Magi, so we must be careful to obey the laws we set for ourselves. However, he lacks any trace of a Magus’ pride. As you read the paper, you would know that Magi weren’t involved in the assassinations and that he would go all over the world offering his services as a mercenary.”

 

“So what shall we do then? If we do come across him?”

 

“Time can only tell.” The writing board began to write once more, getting Tokiomi’s attention. “We will have something planned for him in the future.”

 

As Tokiomi said this, a man in ultramarine full body tights wielding a red spear materialized beside him.

 

“Lancer, good to see you.” Tokiomi greeted his Servant.

 

“Hey, master. I did your job. Sakura is safe with some Archer Servant that the guy summoned.”

 

Tokiomi nodded. “Good to hear, I’m glad Sakura’s safe. In your opinion, can you trust this Archer to look after my daughter?”

 

“The Archer’s a kid, master.” Lancer told him, shocking Tokiomi. “But, seeing them getting along, I suppose that she is in good hands with the best.”

 

“A kid? I see.” Tokiomi said. “Lancer, Archer is our ally. As well as him protecting Sakura, I want you to also help protect her, understand?”

 

Lancer nodded, resting his lance on his shoulders. “Of course, master. I understand.”

 

“And Lancer, also our ally is the man standing behind you. He will be helping us in the war.”

 

“I know, Tokiomi. I suspected as much. If he needs help, then I will help him too.”

 

“Good. Now go guard the mansion.” Lancer nodded as he disappeared into specks of blue light. Tokiomi then turned to Kirei. “Have you got your catalyst, Kirei?”

 

Kirei nodded as he presented his catalyst to Tokiomi: a piece of paper, with Japanese words on it. “Hai, this paper will allow me to summon my Servant.”

 

“Oh? A piece of paper as a catalyst?” Tokiomi questioned. He was expecting like a broken piece of a sword, or a piece of clothing that once belonged to someone. A piece of paper was something that he did not expect.

 

Unless… His student was going for a fictional hero. Which was deemed impossible, but he was curious himself at how it might go. He chuckled, making Kirei raise an eyebrow.

 

“I see. I believe we should go and have a look at what you have summoned for this war.”

 

A few minutes later, they were both in a different part of the basement. After Tokiomi had redrawn the summoning circle, Kirei placed the piece of paper onto the altar. Once everything was completed, Kirei began the summoning chant for his servant.

 

_**Bare and Silver and Iron, Stone for Foundation and the Grand duke of Contracts. My great master, Shveinorg as my ancestor. A wall for the descending winds, the four gates shall close and come out the crown. Let the three-forked road to the Kingdom cycle!** _

 

The basement room was instantly filled with a bright light, forcing the two of them to cover their eyes. Once the light died down, they both lowered their arms and looked at the new occupant in the room. Standing in the magic circle was a man with long indigo hair tied into ponytail and indigo eyes. He wore a traditional light purple umanori hakama and kimono, light purple tabi and black geta with purple haori and tekkou and carried his sword on his back. The man looked around the room before his eyes settled on Kirei.

 

“Are you my Master?” The servant asked him. Kirei nodded in response, making the man smile. “I am your servant, Assassin. It is nice to meet you, Master.”

 

Tokiomi smiled. It seemed the summoning of fictional heroes was possible after all. They were the first to prove that such a thing was possible.

 

“I am impressed, Kirei. You were able to summon a fictional hero.” Tokiomi praised his student.

 

“A fictional hero?” Kirei asked, confused.

 

Assassin chuckled. “Yes. I’m not a real hero, but a fictional hero. The person you see in front of you is a real life representation of said person who only exists in the books.”

 

“I see.” Kirei spoke. “So what is your name?”

 

“Kojirou Sasaki, master.” Assassin introduced himself.

* * *

 

**Apartment, Fuyuki**

 

Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald smiled in satisfaction as he opened a small package, which he received after lunch. Inside the package was a broken piece of metal, which was said to have belonged to Hercules’ sword.

 

He had been waiting a while for that package. Ever since his other package hadn’t arrived, he had grown impatient with the delivery time of the parcel. It contained a fossilized eye of Medusa herself, only that it hadn’t arrived. Not wanting to wait any longer, he had asked an associate of his to deliver his backup catalyst, in case something like this would ever happen. Now he had got it; it was everything that he needed for the war and to win it as well.

 

Now, it was time to summon his mighty servant. Placing the metal on the altar, he began the initial chant for the summoning.

 

_**I announce thee** _

_**Thy body shall be under my command** _

_**My fate shall be determined by thy sword** _

_**Follow the call of the holy grail** _

_**If thou wouldst obey this mind and this reason, then answer the call** _

_**Come forth, my Servant!** _

 

A bright light filled the apartment room, forcing him to shield his eyes. When the light died down, Kayneth lowered his eyes and was shocked at what stood before him.

 

Standing way above his height was a monster of a man, whose height made him look like a dwarf. In his hand, he held a weird looking sword and his eyes held uncountable rage in them.

 

Kayneth, for some reason, took a step back. “Are you Hercules?” Kayneth questioned the behemoth in front of him. Hercules looked down at his master and nodded in response. “Good. With you at my side, we have already won!”

 

Just as he said this, the door to his apartment opened. His wife, a woman with red hair and brown eyes, entered the room, carrying some bags of groceries.

 

“Kayneth, I’m… Oh my...” Sola gasped, looking at Hercules. “Did I really miss much myself?”

 

“You did, Sola dear.” Kayneth smiled at his wife. “We have the most powerful man as our servant and he is going to help us win this Holy Grail War.”

 

“Oh really?” Sola raised an eyebrow. “I have yet to see that, dear.”

* * *

 

The morning after she was summoned, Rider was physically drained from staying up all night. She was looking forward to a mana exchange, but first she had to accompany Waver back to the place where he was staying for the duration of the Grail War.

 

Her exhaustion made her stumble.

 

“Can’t you keep up?” Waver snapped, as he climbed the last hill before the house. The house was on the other side of the peak.

 

Rider bristled, gritting her teeth in frustration and a hand almost flicking ready her weapons. “I apologize, Master.” Her tone wasn’t and Waver knew this.

 

Waver gave a light grunt of disbelief and pointedly ignored his Servant. “Never mind,” he responded dismissively. “Let’s keep going.”

 

“As you wish, _Master_.” Rider made sure the emphasis was on the word ‘master’, so Waver knew she was being pig-headed on purpose.

 

She followed at a distance this time. However, it didn’t take long before she stumbled again and, this time, fell. Medusa got up without a complaint and kept walking behind her Master. If she was honest with herself, she already hated this life. Being made a Servant of an ignorant child like this really riled her up.

 

Why did she have to be paired with Waver Velvet in the first place? He was a bad role model for Masters everywhere, he should be ashamed of himself. Nonetheless, Rider was his Servant, so she had to abide by what he said.

 

For now, she would follow his commands. And since she couldn’t dematerialize, Rider would have to jump up to the second floor, which was where Waver’s room was located.  _More wasted energy_ , she thought. In the wake of that, Medusa wanted her mana exchange as soon as possible.

 

She didn’t care if Waver didn’t want it, either.

* * *

 

Waver knew he was an ignorant person and that he snapped at people. Part of him, deep down, hoped that his Master-Servant relationship with Rider would help him grow and mature. He wanted to not be ignorant anymore and to be more polite with people.

 

The Grail War was it.

 

Sensing a devious smirk forming on Rider’s face, Waver turned and became alarmed when the grin never moved. “Rider, what are you thinking?” Medusa was ever silent, reminding him of their first moments as partners. She couldn’t be after that, could she? It -!

 

Rider dragged Waver into a bush.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A mention of past rape.

“I’m bored~!” Gilgamesh childishly shouted, putting his hands on the back of his head. He was walking around the city with his new master; Sakura Matou, who stayed as close to the young king of Uruk as possible.

 

“I-I suppose w-we will find something fun soon.” Sakura assured him.

 

“Of course we will, master!” Gilgamesh smiled. “Especially since you’re saying it!” His last comment made Sakura blush in embarrassment at being praised.

 

“Say, master... where would you like to go?” Gilgamesh asked the little girl, still smiling. “We could go to this candy shop that I found the other day; it’s not that far from here!”

 

“S-sure.” Sakura nodded, becoming interested at the place that they were both going to.

 

“Or~” Gilgamesh drawled, the smile still plastered on his face. “We could go to the nearby orphanage and play together with the kids there!”

 

“W-what!?” Sakura squeaked, eyes widening at the thought of playing with other strangers, especially kids. Gilgamesh sighed. He kinda knew Sakura would act like that, since she had never herself interacted with anyone outside of her own home, with the exception of her uncle. Gilgamesh was growing quite fond of Kariya, for taking care of his master and being there for her, and her other interaction would be-

 

He shivered in disgust.

 

_-That old creep…_

 

He really couldn’t wait to use EA against him at point blank range and hear him scream. A dark grin slowly crept up on the little king’s face, as he thought about what that man, no, creature’s scream would be. He was no sadist: well kinda right now, but _it_ deserved it, case in point. He quickly snapped out of his thoughts to address the little girl beside him.

 

“Don’t worry.” Gilgamesh assured Sakura, patting her back. “I'm sure that they won’t hurt. Besides, it’ll be fun for the both of us!” He stopped to face Sakura, holding out a hand to her. “You just gotta trust me. Do you trust me, Sakura?”

 

Sakura looked at the Servant in front of her and then to his hand, wondering if this was a good idea. She was far away from that monster and she wanted to keep it that way. She was finally free now and wanted to spend her time being free by doing things that she was denied of from the moment that she was given to the Matou family. Slowly, but surely, she placed her hand into the little king’s hand.

 

“O-okay.” Sakura nodded, fully trusting him.

 

“Great!” Gilgamesh beamed. Holding onto her hand, he sped forward, dragging her along. “Then let's not keep them waiting!”

* * *

 

Waver had everything prepared for the Grail War, even if he had a short amount of time to do so. He managed to complete all the tasks that he needed to do before it even started.

 

Catalyst taken from the man he hated so much. _Check_.

 

Chicken blood instead of special ink or paint. _Check_.

 

Family placed under hypnosis until end of the war. _Check_.

 

Rider having raped him just an hour ago. _Uncheck_.

 

 

Yep…. You all read that one right.

 

And just to note one thing about it, he was _not_ prepared for such a thing.

 

Waver, first of all, knew what mana transfer was and how involved it was. He read that particular information up before he even summoned his Servant. He was kinda planning to get it over with back at the Mackenzie’s Residence. Unfortunately for him, Fate (If she's ever a servant and she hears you say this then god bless) can be a bitch sometimes and how so?

 

By fuckin’ in the bushes was exactly what and that's exactly what Medusa did with him…

 

And speaking of Fuckin’ in the bushes, that's actually the name of a song.

 

 

Anyways! As of right now, Waver was just sitting on his bed, which was given to him by the Mackenzies when he first arrived here. He was writing down notes in his copy from his textbook which contained details about Alchemy and various stuff associating with it. Since he would be missing much of his lessons, it would make sense that he would try and catch up with the work that he was missing right now.

 

Whilst he was working, Medusa was kneeling down nearby, currently watching whatever on the TV. She was watching some historical documentary about the possibility that the Trojan Wars never happened. And clearly, she wasn’t happy about it.

 

“The Trojan War _did_ happen!” Medusa rolled her eyes, staring at the screen. “And it certainly did not happen there; they really got the location wrong.”

 

“And how would you know Medusa?” Waver looked up from his copy and asked her curiously. “Didn’t you like, exist after the Trojan War?”

 

“Troy was located further west.” Medusa answered her Master. “Where they are right now, that’s just a nearby random forgotten city.”

 

“I… see.” Waver nodded as he returned to his studies. A few minutes had passed and after a while the documentary ended. Medusa switched channels to the news next and what was being reported currently, not only caught the Gorgon’s attention but also attracted Waver too.

 

“ _Last night, a family home was bloodied. The bodies of an entire family; a man, wife and their eight-year-old child have been found dead. A postman stumbled upon their corpses this morning. It is not known where the murderer is right now, but police are advising everyone to be wary_.”

 

“That’s… horrible.” Waver muttered, seeing the images of the deceased family being shown on screen. However, the short-lived pity and sorrow that he had for the family was short-lived when the next image was shown and his compassion towards the family was replaced with shock and surprise.

 

“It seems that whoever did this, used this family for the summoning of a Servant.” Medusa deduced, turning to glance at her Master, who nodded in response.

 

“It could be any class of Servant.” Waver answered, looking at his own Servant. “And any of the classes could pose a real threat if we’re not careful.”

 

“True,” Medusa nodded. “But we shall be careful and be prepared for whatever they might throw at us.”

* * *

 

 _ **Ancient Queen, Queen of a land of ancient riches and mighty rulers… She, who succeeded your brother, so that you may bring vengeance to your family… She, who was determined to avenge his death. I call upon you for your strength and power to bring victory and defeat to my enemies**_.

 

_**Come forth! My servant!** _

 

Kariya panted, struggling to stay upright, after summoning his Servant. He’d heard she was powerful.

 

As the smoke dissipated, the figure of an Egyptian woman came into view. She glanced at her surroundings, realizing she had been summoned for a Grail War. After familiarizing herself, her eyes locked onto the man in front of her.

 

“Are you my Master?” She asked, her voice thick with her native accent.

 

Kariya somehow figured she was nobility and drew himself up as best as he could. “Yes,” he answered. He was a little confused, though. She didn’t look like the person he’d been hoping for. “Are you Cleopatra?”

 

The woman blinked at him, before hiding her laugh with one hand. “No, I’m not. You summoned Caster Nitocris, not my Queen. I am sorry to disappoint you…?”

 

“Oh! I’m Kariya.”

 

Nitocris nodded and continued. “If you’d had a fragment of her headpiece, maybe you would have summoned my Queen. But I was the one whose relic you’d been given.”

 

Kariya bowed his head slightly. “I understand. I apologize, Caster.”

 

He hadn’t meant to offend the woman’s pride by wishing he’d had her Queen instead of her; he would really have to watch himself after this. Casters were known for their volatility and turning on their Masters at less than a moment’s notice.

 

Nitocris seemed to read his mind and laughed again, this time openly. “You have nothing to fear from me. I will not cross you; not like Caster Medea crossed her last Master.” Her eyes had a far off look to them – she was recalling a past War.

* * *

 

Gilgamesh led Sakura to the orphanage and they played with the children who no longer had parents due to different circumstances. Some of the children had been looking really lonely from what Gilgamesh had said, so cheering them up seemed the right thing to do.

 

“Isn’t this fun, neh Sakura?”

 

Indeed, it was fun. Sakura could see it was putting smiles back on the faces of the children, so it had to be the right thing to do. “Yeah, it is.” She answered, a bit breathless, but overall enjoying herself.

 

Sakura figured out that she wouldn’t have been able to do this if she was still under the watch of the Matou head. That was why she was overjoyed to be away from him and back under the protective eye of her father.

 

At least the young girl knew that, with Lancer as his Servant, her father would surely win.

 

Gilgamesh, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure. Lancer was indeed a strong Servant, but he could be bested in other ways; one of them caused a horrific death that not even he wanted to happen to the Hound of Ireland.

 

He would have to work together with Lancer to ensure victory, but what cost would it have on their Masters? Archer wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Gilgamesh spotted the matron of the orphanage watching them with a smile on her face. And that made him smile, because they made people happy.

 

 _We’re doing the right thing_ , the young Archer mused to himself, still playing with Sakura. He enjoyed keeping her happy; even making her happy to begin with was a win for him because he hated seeing how lonely and miserable she’d been before he arrived.

 

When the time came to destroy the Matou head, he would savour every moment there was of that monster’s dying screams. He would pay for what he had tried to do to Sakura, would pay for what he’d already done to Kariya. No afterlife would have him once they knew what he was capable of.

* * *

 

Waver and Rider were out walking, albeit Rider was keeping to the shadows. They heard the sound of children laughing from a nearby orphanage and decided to check out what was going on – Waver, mainly because he had learned orphanages were never normally fun places to be.

 

Rider, however, was curious as well and wanted to see what was making them laugh so much. When they got to the orphanage, they hung back a bit and watched the happenings. Rider let her visored gaze wander over the children, but she immediately tensed up and almost brought out her weapons when she saw Gilgamesh.

 

“Rider, what is it?” Waver asked, seeing her freeze like that.

 

At first, she didn’t reply; instead pointing with one weapon at the child with golden blonde hair. “That’s a Servant,” she answered, her teeth clenched. Her fingers were starting to get twitchy.

 

She was mad at that murderer for bringing such a young Servant into this competition of death. Yes, she and Waver had been by the house and they saw the body of the Uryu man. They saw the cursed wound he’d obtained from Lancer’s spear… so it didn’t take long to put it together.

 

“How dare he...” Rider almost growled through her hiss. She was beyond furious that such a young child and young Servant were in this bloodbath. Rider could only hope they had a way to secure victory, otherwise death would be swiftly knocking on their doors.

 

Waver couldn’t believe it, either, but he wasn’t going to be as vocal about it as his Servant was. He had done a little research on the girl and felt so bad for her. Regardless of what he felt, though, despite him wishing otherwise, she was a Master and so was he. They were in this competition together to either win or die, one or the other. He wasn’t sure what the outcome would be but, at least for her, he hoped she was spared death.

 

“What’s her name?” Rider was shaking now, that’s how pissed off she was. If it weren’t for the fact she had a Master and was destined to die anyway, she would protect the girl with all her life.

 

Waver blinked at the sudden request. “Uh… she was a Tohsaka, but is now a Matou.” He hastily answered, feeling like he should be getting Rider out of there quick smart.


End file.
